Reconnecting Old Ties
by San Diego Jacket
Summary: It's been four years since Nicole Bonabel's been in Danville. Now begrudgingly sent back, she rediscovers the town through old memories and new interactions with familiar faces. Rated for swearing (and out of paranoia.) Technically a continuation of another story, but you don't have to read that to understand this.
1. Back To Danville

_**A/N: Hey, everyone. It's certainly been a while since I've been on here. School troubles, lack of ideas; the usual plagues of a young writer. This story in particular has been in development hell for quite some time, and it's not even technically a sequel! However, I did finally want to continue this particular timeline, so I'm finally getting around to writing it.**_

**_Well, enough stalling. Enjoy, and don't be afraid to review!_**

* * *

_**Prologue**_

Nicole Bonabel's fingers fidgeted as big, white airplanes flew to and from the airport. She was sitting on a wooden bench just outside Platform Three. Next to her right foot was a brown suitcase, containing the few possessions she had; clasped in her left hand was her ticket: "Boston, MA". Her dark green eyes were downcast as a spunky red-head – or, as he's known to us, Phineas Flynn – sat next to her. He was one of two to accompany the Native American (the other being his stepbrother, Ferb Fletcher) to the platform, all of them knowing she wouldn't have been able to on her own. A heavy silence hung between the three as other passengers bustled throughout the rambunctious airport.

A few minutes passed. Finally, a woman over the cracking intercom announced: _"Now boarding Flight 735, heading to Boston. Flight 735 is now boarding."_

Nicole looked at her ticket: "Flight 735" was written in bold, black ink. She sighed, standing up. Her two companions rose as Nicole grabbed her suitcase.

"So," she said. "This is it."

Despite the circumstances, Phineas softly smiled. "Hey, don't say that." Phineas told her. "We might meet up again. We'll keep in touch."

"I guess, but…"

"_Flight 735 will be taking off in twenty minutes." _The woman over the intercom interrupted.

The three had another brief silence. In all likelihood, this would be the last time the three would be speaking in person. Then Nicole would have to go on the plane and begin the trip that would start her new life. Their friendship, however brief, could be gone as soon as she stepped foot on that flight.

Phineas, eyes downcast, held out his hand. A sad, lopsided smile went across Nicole's face as she put down her luggage, giving him a hug. Though initially shocked (as Nicole never, _ever _hugged,) Phineas returned the favor. They embraced for a solid minute before Nicole let go, doing the same for Ferb.

"Keep an eye on him, okay?" She whispered in the Brit's ear.

"What else would I be doing?" He remarked, causing her to breathe a chuckle.

The two friends let go as the intercom announced: _"Flight 735 will be leaving in fifteen minutes."_

Nicole grabbed her suitcase. She told them, "Well, that's my cue. Thank you, for everything. I'll miss you guys."

"Write if you can," Phineas reminded her.

"I'll try."

With another farewell, Nicole began walking to the terminal. The door connecting to the plane had a woman accepting tickets. As Nicole gave hers, the woman asked, "Where are your parents?"

"They're already on the plane," she lied.

The woman seemed to buy it as Nicole turned her head. The boys were still there. Phineas smiled, giving a small wave, to which Ferb followed suit. With a smile of her own, Nicole returned the favor.

The girl boarded the plane, the two brothers only leaving when they lost sight of her bobbing black braid.

* * *

**Chapter One: Back to Danville**

_Four years later…_

Nicole, now sixteen-years-old, was jostled out of her sleep by a bump in the road. She stretched her arms out as her brother, Patrick, asked, "Sleep well?"

"As good as I can," Nicole dryly replied.

Her brother's coco brown eyes gave a worried glance before returning to the road. The two siblings looked on opposite sides of the spectrum, side by side in the car. Patrick looked like a thirty-year-old trapped in a nineteen-year-old's body. He was a tad darker skinned than his little sister though this was, in do part to years of outside work in the hot sun. You wouldn't know that judging by his outfit, though; brown tweed jacket, black slacks, white buttoned shirt, and brown loafers. Even his black goatee, furred brow, neatly-kept black hair and faint tinge of cologne on his neck reeked of sophistication.

On the opposite side was Nicole, who resembled more of a street rat than anything. Her green shirt (now with sleeves) was faded; her black jeans were washed out, with a tear or two; her brown jacket was slightly discolored; and her black boots were clearly worn in. Under her shirt was a copper llama necklace, faded with age. She sat cross-legged, her arms folded.

Patrick sighed. "Look," he began, "I know this isn't your favorite plan in the world. But it's the only way you and I can both go to school."

"I don't _need _school, Patrick!" Nicole told him, for the twelfth time that day. "I know everything I need to survive!"

"No, you know enough just to get _by_." Patrick reminded her (again, for the twelfth time that day.) "There's a difference."

Nicole didn't answer. She was too busy looking out of her window. Patrick's eyes glanced at her, but locked on the road soon after. "Don't try to pass me off as the bad guy here. As your legal guardian, I have to look out for you. That means I have to go to college in order to get a degree, a degree means more job opportunities, and that makes it better in the long run."

He turned to one of the several exits. "But, that also means we have to temporarily live apart so both of us can continue to go to school. I can't just let you drop out at _sixteen_, for God's sake!"

"I don't have to go here," she mumbled. "I could go to Aunt Martha's."

He chuckled. "Unless you have enough money for a plane ticket, missy, that's _not_ going to happen."

Nicole's eyes just rolled. Patrick tapped the car wheel with his fingers, thinking. "Hey, it's not going to be _so _bad over in Danville. I'll only be fifty miles away, and you know a few people there."

She scoffed. "I lost touch with them years ago. I don't even know if any of them are still _there, _much less if they'll remember me!" She turned to him. "Come on; I can get a job! I'll pay rent! Just please, _PLEASE _don't send here!"

"…You're not letting this drop, are you?"

"We're five minutes away from town. If I haven't given up now, I probably won't later."

A minute or so of silence followed. Finally, Patrick sighed. "Alright, how about this: if you _are_ absolutely miserable in Danville after, say, a month, you can join me in my apartment and get a full-time job. Deal?"

He held out one of his hands to his little sister. She smirked, taking it. "Deal."

The two briefly shook hands before a sign seemed to materialize, still rather far away. A minute later, the sign was visible, revealing two cartoon-looking children with bright smiles. The script under it read:

_Welcome to delightful Danville, where smiles are abound and plentiful!_

"Jesus, four years and they still have that stupid sign…" Nicole put two fingers on her right hand under her right eye.

"Oh, come on, you know they're just pandering to tourists." Patrick reminded her.

"I lived in this town for almost a year; twice every week, there's a spontaneous song and dance number. If it got any more delightful, we'd be in _'Gee, whiz!'_ territory."

* * *

_Four years, three months earlier…_

Nicole had a rather rude awakening when a trumpet blared outside her window.

She yelled, practically jumping out her bed. She rubbed her eyes, hearing the huge band outside, finishing a chorus. Looking at her alarm clock, the red numbers read nine o'clock.

Nicole groaned, getting out of her bed to feel the cold, wooden floor. She hobbled across the ground, exiting the room groggily.

"Okay, thanks for coming!" Nicole could see Phineas waving to what appeared to be a high school marching band. "The recording was great! We'll give all of you CDs when it's finished!"

When the last tuba player jogged out, hurrying to catch up with his colleagues, Phineas shut the door. He turned to discover the female preteen, wide-eyed and perplexed. "Good morning, Nicole! When did you wake up?"

She still stared at the door. Phineas followed her gaze. "Oh, Ferb and I were helping the Danville High Marching Band with their new CD. We're still thinking up a name, if you're interested."

Nicole didn't reply. She simply shook the rest of the sleep out of her head and walked to the kitchen. Phineas frowned, following her.

Ferb and Perry, the family pet, were in the kitchen when the two other kids arrived. Ferb began pouring a glass of Orange Juice while Phineas asked, "So… Sleep well?"

"Up until a trumpet blared in my window," Nicole answered. She grabbed a banana from a fruit bowl and began peeling it.

Not telling whether or not she was joking, Phineas changed the subject. "You know, we have the rest of the day off. The others usually in our group are busy today… If you want, we can show you around town."

"Thanks, but I'll pass."

Phineas exchanged a worried look with his brother. It had only been a few days since Nicole had come to Danville. She made it _excruciatingly _clear that this was only a temporary arrangement. The faster they could find her a home, the better. Nicole pushed away any attempts of contact with the Flynn-Fletchers; she figured it would be easier.

_Why get attached to people you'll just end up leaving? _She reasoned.

Still, that didn't discourage the red-headed Flynn to try. "Come on, there has to be _something _you're curious about! The park, the museum…"

"I'm busy."

"Take a break, then! Enjoy yourself! I think the Googolplex Mall has a sale–."

"Phineas–!" She realized her fists were balling up. She carefully unclenched them as she thought about the next words she was going to say. "Look, I've only been here a few days. I've barely gotten used to _here_; I'm going to need a little time before I start touring the city. When I do, I'll tell you. Okay?" She plastered on a fake smile for good measure.

Phineas was about to protest before Ferb caught his attention. The Brit shook his head, as if to say _"Don't push it."_

He slightly sighed. "Okay."

"Thank you." Nicole looked greatly relieved. She threw the now empty banana peel in the trash can. She left the room as the boys went outside to sit under the tree in the backyard.

* * *

_Present day…_

As the final t-shirt went into the drawer, Nicole's phone rang. She picked it off of her bed and saw the caller ID. She smiled, clicking "Accept."

"Hey, loser, how's it going?" Nicole held the phone next to her ear as she plopped down on the bed. "… Wow, charming. I hope you don't treat all your friends like this. … Oh, good for me, then!"

She laughed as the person on the other line asked a question. The teen scowled before answering, "No, the 'beg for mercy' plan didn't work. … Yeah, I'll pay you later. … Well, unless you count a room in a hotel that belongs to a friend of ours, no. … Oh, shut up. What are you calling me for?"

Her phone friend talked as she looked around the room. It was small, the only one available at the time. The yellow walls were fading and the brown floor creaked with the smallest bit of pressure. The single bed was a bit uncomfortable, but was saved by the soft bed sheets and pillow (though the colors clashed awfully.) An oak dresser and chair also accompanied the room, and Nicole's suitcase (a small, dark green backpack) was placed on the top of the matching desk. Still, for fifty dollars a month, it was more than generous.

"I'm fine, thanks. I've been here before, remember?"

The man's resulting question caused Nicole to sadden a little.

She sat up as she answered. "Oh, the boys? I…"

Nicole sighed. "I don't know. The last time we spoke was nearly four years ago. They could have moved or forgotten about me. … Well, that's different; at least I'm still _talking _to you. … Of course it would nice! It's just not _realistic._" It was then a thought occurred to Nicole as she looked at the time. It was six-fifteen. "Wait, isn't it three-fifteen over there? … Today's Thursday, right? … Don't you get out of school at four?"

Another voice suddenly broke over the receiver. It was so loud that Nicole had to pull the phone away from her ear.

"_WHERE IS HE?!" _It shouted. _"THAT MAGGOT BETTER GET HERE ASAP!"_

Nicole's eyes narrowed as the phone went back to her ear. "You're skipping Gym again, aren't you? … Yes, I know he's insane, but still! … Says Mr. 'Stop-Being-Irresponsible', who also complains about having 'noodle arms'. … *sigh* Look, avoid getting killed and call me when you get out, 'kay? … Godspeed, man. Bye."

The call ended. Nicole placed her phone on the dresser.

She reverted back to lying on the bed. Her mind drifted off to Phineas and Ferb. Those two… They'd gotten her through some pretty rough times. It was because of them she was able to trust people a little more, just the slightest bit more open. Hell, the person she'd just been talking to she only met because of them! The thought of them simply having forgotten about her, discarding her as nothing more than a person from the past…

She didn't like to think about it.

Nicole blinked, shaking her head. _Don't think about them, _she thought. _Focus on right now. You still have lots of things to do._

Grabbing her phone, she got up and walked out the room.


	2. Danville High

**Chapter Two: Danville High**

_Four years, two months earlier…_

"Take this, Dorito Head!" Buford Van Stomp shouted, chucking a water balloon at Phineas. The Flynn ducked behind a turned-over table next to Isabella and Baljeet as they planned a counter attack. Buford shot down as three water balloons hit the "shield" (another turned-over table.) He laughed as Ferb threw a purple balloon at them.

It was a day in early September. Not quite the beginning of fall, but also not one of the ending days of summer. School was just around the corner for the kids, so they decided to spend one of their last few days of freedom with a water balloon fight. Isabella, Baljeet, and Phineas were on one team, while Nicole, Ferb, and Buford were on the other. It seemed the two groups were evenly matched.

"What do we do now?" Nicole asked, dodging the next blue water balloon.

Ferb lifted his finger, about to answer the question, when Buford interrupted, "Easy." He suddenly sprung up, shouting like a maniac as he threw a multitude of balloons. One or two hit Baljeet before Isabella nailed Buford in the nose with a red balloon.

They all laughed. Candace stepped outside.

"Hey, Mom's leaving for an hour or two, so I'm in char–." Candace began, who was then interrupted by a pink balloon to the chest.

Nicole blinked twice before ducking back behind her table. There was a silence.

A smile went across Phineas' face before you could hear a suppressed laugh. Soon, it became a collective giggle. Candace gained a small half-smile.

"Oh, you're going _down!"_ She ducked behind Phineas' table before the battle began again.

* * *

_Present Day…_

Nicole sprung up at the sound of her alarm. She groaned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as it continued in the background. When finished (and after finally getting around to turning off the annoying _beep_ing_,_) she got up and headed to the restroom.

She began to brush her teeth as she thought about her dream. Well… Memory, actually. It wasn't uncommon to see them, especially lately, but she couldn't understand why. Over the last four years, the boys rarely came up so often. Maybe it was because she returned to Danville. Too many memories were here – good and bad alike – but it hadn't bothered her so much in the past.

_Then again, you were in Boston. _Nicole reminded herself. _Being three hundred sixty-four miles away from someone sort of makes you forget them._

She paused before chuckling.

_Yeah, right. Not them._

Lamely tying her head in a braid, Nicole left the restroom to get dressed. Once finished (it was the same outfit as yesterday,) she grabbed her backpack and room keys, quickly heading out of her room.

* * *

_Four years, three months earlier…_

"You're left-handed?" Phineas asked.

Nicole looked up. It had been a little while since she was in Danville by that point – at least a week or so – and the Flynn-Fletchers had somewhat gotten used to her. Of course, Phineas still tried to connect on some level with the Native American, so he constantly tried to find something they had in common.

"Yeah, why?" She replied, returning to the letter she was writing for her currently incarcerated sibling.

"Well, I'm ambidextrous, but I usually write with my left." He sat next to her, which prompted her to somewhat hide her letter from him.

_Jesus, he's really straining to find a connection here, isn't he? _Nicole thought. However, in hopes of finally having the Flynn giving her some space, she decided to go along with it: "Huh. Cool. Never met an ambidextrous person before."

"Yeah. It's kind of fun to throw people off when I use both hands to write with. There was actually this one time where–."

"Hey, what about Ferb? What's his dominant hand?"

"Ferb? Uh… I'm not too sure, actually."

"Then go ask him."

However, the Flynn – oblivious to the situation as ever – was already lost in thought. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers. "We could create electronic gloves!"

Nicole stopped her writing once again to look up at Phineas. Admittedly, she was not expecting him to take _that _away from their conversation. "What?"

"Yeah!" The redhead jumped up, seeming to go a mile a minute in his thoughts. "We could create gloves capable of anything! Battle blasters on the wrist, cooking utensils in the fingers, even capable of ambidexterity!" He looked at her excitedly. "Come on, let's get Ferb!"

"I'll…be out there in a minute," Nicole's lie was paper thin, but her redheaded companion was too distracted to notice. "You go start, though."

When he left the room to fetch his stepbrother, she found it safe enough to continue writing.

* * *

_Present Day…_

The discarded remains of a breakfast burrito flew into the trash as Nicole adjusted her flimsy backpack strap.

Danville High School. She had only seen it on a few occasions, but now it looked larger, even without her twelve-year-old mindset coming into play. From what she learned from a quick internet search, the school was rebuilt in 1986 after a freak, once-in-a-millennium earthquake sent it crumbling four years prior. It seemed a lot older than thirty years, though; when she got close enough, Nicole noticed very distinct cracks in the brick outer work. Nothing life threatening, but still. The white walls reeked of paper, ink, and disinfectant as Nicole walked through the filled-up hallways. She kept one hand over her backpack strap as she searched for locker with the numbers six-eighteen on it.

The students were the typical generic mix of stereotypes. She passed by over-zealous preppy girls, decked out in mini-skirts despite the recent chill of autumn. An obvious junkie offered a joint, but she just walked by. Goths, jocks, nerds; it somehow felt appropriate that she was walking among common eighties high school tropes.

After some searching, she managed to find the locker. One quick combination later, she was attempting to stick as many books in her backpack as humanly possible. Her unfamiliarity in the school was apparent, though, as she heard a masculine voice ask, "New here, Braid?"

She turned to see one of the jocks from earlier. He was an inch or so taller than she was, with a spray tan so fake it was practically orange. His eyes were a neutral-looking hazel, impossible to read, while his brown hair was spiked up. He wore a pair of new, black skinny jeans; a red varsity jacket, unbuttoned, revealing a maroon shirt; and blue, clearly expensive sneakers. He smirked, leaning against the locker next to hers almost mockingly.

Nicole didn't reply. When she began to stick a notebook in her bag, he caught her hand. "You didn't answer my question, Braid."

She roughly pulled her hand away. A moment later, she looked at it. "Maybe I didn't want to, _Tangerine." _She snapped back, showing him the orange residue on her right hand.

A pause. Suddenly, the jock chuckled. "You're funny, Braid." He leaned closer to her. "I like having a good laugh."

"Then go to a comedy club, asshat." She pushed him back.

Nicole slammed the locker door shut as he laughed again. "Need help getting to your first class? Your bag must weigh a ton, with all the books in there."

It did. But there was no way in hell she was going to let _him_ know that. "I know my way around. So, if you'd kindly _piss_ _off_…"

Before "Tangerine" could come up with a response, the first bell rang. As students began shuffling around, the man took on a smug grin.

"Guess I'll see you around, Braid." He gave a half-hearted wave as he arrogantly walked to his class.

_Don't bet on it. _Nicole thought, angrily storming off.

* * *

The day seemed to drag on with every passing minute. Nicole didn't really pay attention during her morning classes, only registering bits and pieces of vague information. Mostly, she just drew crappy-looking doodles in her notebook. No one else seemed to really want to pay attention, either, what with all the interruptions they kept making. She quickly learned talking was a popular pastime when the teacher wasn't paying attention, dozing off, or left the room. It wasn't hard to eavesdrop on some of the conversations, where Nicole – the only new student to arrive in October – was a popular topic. Nicole nearly choked when she heard some of the ridiculous theories they came up with regarding her (one of them even claimed she was secretly a witch.)

When the bell rang for lunch, Nicole absentmindedly walked the halls, looking at some of her terrible scribbles. She laughed at the thought of her friend from last night having an aneurysm at mere sight of them, as he was a fairly good artist. Because she wasn't paying attention, she accidentally bumped into someone carrying a large stack of books. The majority of the collection landed on the floor as Nicole got her bearings.

"Oh! Sorry, I wasn't–." She began to apologize.

However, when she looked up, she froze.

The guy she bumped into looked around her age. He wore a yellow polo with an orange stripe near the top; blue tennis shoes, as well as blue jeans; and a long, white-sleeved undershirt. His flaming red hair had grown just a tad bit shabbier over the years, but there was no mistaking the baby blue eyes, or that signature triangular head, even after four years.

The guy she'd bumped into was none other than Phineas Flynn.


	3. Phineas

_**A/N: Well, this took a while to post. Sorry about such a long wait – I've been pretty busy lately. But, with that said, I'm officially free with the advent of summer, so expect more posts a lot quicker. Hope you enjoy, and please review!**_

* * *

**Chapter Three: Phineas**

Nicole could only blink as Phineas looked at the pile surrounding him. Perhaps he'd forgotten about her? That honestly looked like the best case scenario right now.

It seemed like that at first. "No, it's fine." Phineas said; God, his voice sounded so _different_. "I don't know why I was carrying so many books in the first place…"

However, just as Nicole had thought that faint glimmer of hope had come true, he looked up.

His red eyebrow rose ever so slightly. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

_Ah, crap. _She thought. However, she replied with: "Uh… Not that I can think of, sorry." She hastily got up. "So, yeah, I have to get going and–." She was about to leave when she realized she'd dropped her notebook. "Wait, where's my–?"

"Notebook?" Phineas finished. Nicole turned to find the Flynn holding the faded, brown book in his hand.

…With the name "**Nicole Bonabel**" clearly written on the front in bold, black ink.

_Damn it._

However, she managed a slightly forced grin as Phineas laughed. "Man, I can't believe I almost didn't recognize you! You look so different!"

"Oh, shut up." Nicole replied. "Four years isn't _that _long… If anything, you're the one who looks different."

"Yeah, I usually don't have twenty books stacked in front of my face." The redhead joked. "I was kind of asking for someone to run into me, now that I think of it."

Nicole managed a small, airy chuckle – possibly an excuse to hyperventilate briefly – as Phineas asked, "So, how long have you been in town?"

"I just got here yesterday," she explained. Phineas managed to pick up the final book he held (resulting in a slightly teetering stack… In hindsight, it was probably a miracle it didn't fall again) and stood up. "My brother, Patrick, managed to get a spot at a college not too far from here. This was the closest high school, though, so I had to stay here."

"Well, welcome back." Phineas smiled, and Nicole gave him a much smaller one in return. "I wish I would've known… Hey, how come–?"

"I lost it." She interrupted, knowing the next words already. "I think I dropped it or something."

"Ah."

There was a small silence.

"Well, I'd hate to keep you from…whatever's going on…" Nicole gestured to his stack of books. _Please take the hint please take the hint please–_

"Are you kidding? The others would want to know you came back!"

…_Well, four years didn't kill your obliviousness, apparently…_

"Come on – they should be in the cafeteria!"

Before Nicole could put in a word, Phineas was hurrying down the hall, somehow keeping his books level.

The Native American could only groan as she followed.

* * *

_Four years, three months earlier…_

"This isn't going to be a constant thing, is it?"

Nicole looked down at Ferb, who still had a hand on the closet door. She was on a high shelf, with a few hats on the floor, pushed off so she could have more room in her hiding place.

She sighed. "No," she replied. "I'm just hiding from your brother."

"Is he trying to make you social?"

"Yes! It's ridiculous!"

Despite her straining to hear Phineas' footsteps, Nicole swore she heard Ferb chuckle. "Who's it this time?"

"The same as the last two times. He wants me to make amends with the girl from across the street–,"

"Isabella."

"–the Indian kid–,"

"Baljeet."

"–and that freakishly pale bully."

"Buford."

The Brit noticed Nicole glaring at him. "What? At least learn their names."

"I'm not learning their names because I don't want to see them again. And something tells me that they don't want to see _me_, either."

Ferb lifted a finger before she continued, "And don't tell me I'm just imagining it. Every time I walk past that girl's–."

"Isabella's."

"You know who I mean! Every time I walk by her house, I can feel her shooting a death glare from out her window. That Indian kid – _you know who I mean – _bolts as soon as I get within a block of wherever he's at. And the pale guy's–."

She paused for a second.

"Actually, he doesn't seem to react to me at all."

Ferb shrugged. "Buford's always pretty neutral in these types of conflicts. He's the Sweden of our ensemble."

"…Did you get that from _Dusk?"_

"Did you read _Dusk _in order to make that comparison?"

"…Touché."

She wiggled a little deeper into her hiding spot. "Now, if you don't mind, I'll be staying up here 'till, like, seven."

Knowing he wouldn't get through to her any time soon, Ferb closed the door as Nicole prepared for one of the longest nights of her life.

"_Oh, hey, Ferb. Have you seen Nicole?"_

"_Have you checked the closet?"_

* * *

_Present Day…_

"Okay, I'll go by my table; you get something to eat."

Nicole simply nodded, though Phineas was already a few feet away.

The cafeteria was a mad house. A blur of conversations, each louder than the one before it, seemed to melt into one collective buzz. Some people laughed until they practically choked and others somehow managed to read in spite of the noise. In fact, the one thing noticeably lacking from the cafeteria was people eating food!

Still, this did provide a perk or two. As she'd come in later, the line for lunch was nonexistent, and the burrito she had for breakfast had vanished. Nicole grabbed a tray and went into the line.

Just as she placed her tray on the metal line, another person came up behind her. She could tell almost immediately it wasn't Phineas – from the corner of her eye, she could see white, rolled up sleeves; what she assumed to be a purple vest; gray pants; and black tennis shoes. The skin was roughly the same color, though, only paler.

"Already avoiding social interactions, eh?" A masculine voice asked. If Nicole hadn't recognized the English accent, she would've decked the stranger with her plate.

"What? I'm not avoiding anything." She turned her head to Ferb Fletcher. His light blue eyes were slightly glassy, and his bright green hair disheveled. He also wore a lavender tie, for whatever reason. "I'm just hungry."

"Uh-huh. We're halfway down the line, and you haven't grabbed a thing."

Nicole raised an eyebrow before looking back at the food line. Indeed, it was already halfway done.

"…Okay, I'm _a bit _nervous." She said, grabbing a salad.

Ferb grabbed a fruit bowl as he commented, "So, how many escape routes have you thought of?"

"Escape routes! Ferb, are you–?"

She stopped at his unamused expression.

"…How good are my odds if I try one of the windows?"

"Unless you can pull a jackhammer out of thin air, not good."

"Crap. The doors obviously aren't an option… How good are the odds of starting a riot in here?"

"Nicole, just stay with us for, like, ten minutes." Ferb lifted his tray as Nicole grabbed a bottle of water. "I promise you'll live."

The Native American gave him an annoyed look. Still, no other options seemed to be available in the cafeteria...

"Ugh, fine." She sighed. She took her tray off the metal line. "Lead the way, Fletcher."

The Brit gave her a small smile. "Good to know you're still easily manipulated."

"Good to know you're still a pain in the ass."

* * *

_Four years, three months earlier…_

_Fletcher is going to pay for this I swear to Christ I'll get him in his sleep if I have to but HE'S GOING–!_

"Nicole?"

Nicole noticed the young red haired Flynn giving her an odd look. "You okay? You look like you're going to strangle something."

_Someone, actually… _"No, I'm fine." She replied. "Just nervous, that's all."

"Oh, you'll be fine." Phineas reassured. "You'll love Isabella, Baljeet, and Buford. They're great!"

"I'm sure they are." Nicole made sure to give Phineas a forced smile, praying to God he'd take the hint.

He didn't. Phineas still continued to walk to the door that connected to the backyard as Ferb made sure to stay behind Nicole, knowing she'd bolt at a moment's notice. She shot him another silent glare as Phineas slid open the door. The trio entered into the tan fenced backyard.

The other three who had gathered were sitting under the lone tree in the entire yard. One of them was a Hispanic girl, with black hair and similarly shaded blue eyes to Phineas'. Her bow was a bright pink and her pink and white dress neatly pressed. She looked rather pissed, standing with her arms folded in the shade of the tree.

Another one, an Indian kid, looked like a nervous wreck. He seemed to try for a new look, as Nicole remembered seeing a fairly recent photo of him looking entirely different. He wore a dark blue shirt, gray shorts, and dark blue sneakers. His fingers were nervously tapping his knee until Phineas slid the door open. Now, the poor kid turned three shades lighter and had gained a nervous sweat.

The final one… Well, he looked like he didn't give a crap, plain and simple. His skin was unusually pale, which went perfectly fine with his gruff exterior. A black shirt with a skull, dark green-ish/brown-ish shorts, and light red shoes – he fulfilled the bully stereotype, down to his spiked, brown hair. His dark eyes revealed nothing as he watched the trio enter into the yard.

Nicole tried to not reveal her panicking heartbeat as Phineas gave a warm smile to his friends (emphasis on "his", mind you.) "Hey, guys."

"Hey, Phineas," they all greeted, each with various levels of enthusiasm (though it was overall pretty low.)

"Alright, I know that Nicole didn't make the _best_ first impression–,"

_Oh, yeah, I just nearly shot one of their closest friends in the eye. Not necessarily in the "Top Ten Best Meetings of All Time."_

"–but she's really a great girl. Just give her a chance."

There was a silence. Nicole felt the silence begin to crush her – maybe it wasn't too late to bail?

Surprisingly, it was Buford who broke the silence, shrugging. "Yeah, okay."

Isabella gave the bully a confused/horrified look.

"What?" He simply replied. "She's going to be here a while. Might as well."

"...I guess you have a point there…" Baljeet stood up, looking at the Native American. "I suppose we could…give it a shot."

Five gazes turned back to Isabella. The Latina looked between all of them.

Finally, she turned her eyes to the fence.

"Fine," she answered, the venom not even hidden in her voice.

Nicole was glad that Phineas was in front of her, so he didn't see her shrink back a little. Instead, that warm little smile of his grew bigger.

Yeah, this _was _going to be one of the longest nights of her life.

* * *

_Present day…_

Nicole probably gripped her tray so tightly that it was in risk of breaking.

She could pick out Phineas' table already. The Flynn was excitedly talking, sitting across from a girl with black hair that was in a ponytail. She wore a pink sweater and long, white pants. Her belt was also pink, positioned on her waist. _Isabella_, Nicole figured. _She's the only person I know that could tolerate so much pink. _

"Is it too late to back out?" Nicole whispered to Ferb.

"Hey, you guys!" Phineas, having noticed the two of them, waved and gestured them over to him.

"Now it is," he replied, heading forward.

Nicole could feel the knots in her stomach grow tighter as she hesitantly followed.

Ferb sat across from an empty seat, which Nicole decided to sit in. The spot next to her was vacant, with Isabella one chair over.

Phineas briefly looked at Nicole, before turning back to the Hispanic girl. "Isabella, you remember Nicole, right?"

There was a small quiet from her, trying to find Nicole's name.

"Oh, _Nicole_," she said, turning to the newcomer. "Yeah, I remember you. Didn't you leave for Boston or something?" Nicole noticed Isabella didn't sound particularly bitter while remembering her name. More… acknowledgment, really.

"Yeah," Nicole answered. "My brother got the chance to go to a college nearby, so I came back here."

"Ah" was the only response she got. Isabella returned back to the blue binder in front of her, somehow able to concentrate reading it. "Welcome back, I guess."

…Yeah, definitely just _acknowledgement_ from Isabella. Not that Nicole minded – actually, it was rather refreshing.

The Native American barely stuck her fork in her salad when another person came (quite boisterously) to the table. After a quick glance upward, Nicole's eyes widened a bit before she quickly jammed the fork into her mouth, in order to stifle a laugh.

The person in question looked like a bizarre combination of a pretentious director and a coffee shop poet. His hair was brown and somewhat long, bringing out the blue in his eyes. His skin was extremely pale, even more so than Ferb's. He wore a red shirt, green scarf, gray shorts, and black hiking boots.

Nicole bit even harder on her fork as he laughed, sitting beside Phineas. "What's going on, you guys?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing much, Buford." Ferb replied, seeming to put a little emphasis on Buford's name. Nicole shot him a glare, knowing he did that just to see if she would start laughing (something she might have done, if her nerve wasn't as rock solid.)

"Hey, remember Nicole?" Phineas suddenly cut in, gesturing to her. "She came here a few years ago."

A small pause. Then: "Oh, Bonabel. Uh… You were the girl who nearly shot Phineas in the eye, right?"

_Well, Buford hasn't changed much… _"Yeah, that was me." Nicole stared at her salad while saying this, seeing that she wouldn't be able to keep her composure otherwise.

Surprisingly, Buford chuckled. "Man that was crazy." He commented. "What brings you back to Danville?"

"My brother's going to college close by. I'm here so I can still attend school."

"That's cool. Well, uh, welcome back."

"Thanks."

Phineas seemed like he was about to say something when the bell cut him off. Nicole practically sprung up by the final tone.

Still, she managed to exit (relatively) calmly as Phineas went beside her.

"So, what do you have next period?" He inquired.

"French, I think," Nicole replied. "You?"

"Advanced Math, along with Ferb and Isabella," he answered.

"What about Buford?"

"I…don't know, actually. He always changes the answer."

Nicole dumped her barely eaten salad in the garbage as Phineas waved. "See you around!"

She managed one last forced smile as she went to the opposite direction.


	4. Flashbacks

_**A/N: Hey, everyone. Well, after five seasons, Phineas and Ferb has finally ended. I haven't seen the finale yet, though I hear it was beautiful. I'll still be updating this story, though – why stop something without finishing it, eh? **_**_Anyway, this chapter will mostly be one or two snippets during Nicole's time with the Flynn-Fletchers. Don't worry, plot stuff will be happening next time – this chapter is more for character and relationship development._**

**_With that said, enjoy!_**

* * *

**Chapter Four: Flashbacks**

_Hey, how was school?_

Ajf lai spfu

…_Wow, you didn't even look at the keyboard once._

Despite everything, Nicole chuckled. She had finished her homework not too long before and had quietly lain on her bed for the past three minutes. Until her phone had _dinged _–courtesy of the contact "**This Guy**" – she thought that was how she was going to spend her night. This time, she actually looked at her screen as she typed:

Sorry, school sucked

_What happened?_

I ran into the boys

There was a pause.

_Didn't you want that?_

NO!

_Ok, ok, jeez._

Sorry. It's just… Ugh

_Yes, it must be very 'ugh'._

You know what I meant!

Another pause.

Look, I was happy to see the boys and all, but… To actually SEE them, to KNOW that they're going to be a part of my life for at least the month…

It's terrifying

TERRIFYING

I don't know what to do now!

_Well, you can't skip school for the rest of the month…_

Yes, I know that

…_By the way you're making it sound, it's going to be near impossible to avoid them…_

Again, I already know

…_I'm guessing getting sick isn't an option…_

DAMN, that Brazilian model's ass was FINE

_What?_

Nothing

Making sure I wasn't talking to a void

…_Fair enough._

_But you're getting my point here?_

_You just have to go through with it for a month._

I KNOW THAT

I DIDN'T NEED YOUR CONFIRMATION, DIPPIN' DOTS

_WHO TOLD YOU THAT NICKNAME?!_

Who do you think?

…_Oh, she is SO going to pay…_

Off topic. Again. I don't think I'm going to survive this month, dude

_You've survived worse._

That was two days

This is a MONTH we're talking about here

_You honestly think this is worse?_

NO

WHAT GAVE YOU THAT IDEA?

…

…Yes

_Have you talked to Patrick yet?_

Yeah

Lied my ass off and said school was fine

I shouldn't worry him about me on top of everything else

_Fair enough._

_Look, I have to go. Paper due tomorrow. Haven't written a single word._

Expect a four a.m. insomniac theory?

_Oh, ha ha._

Yet again, there was a pause.

_Probably, yeah._

K. Talk to you later

_Bye._

Nicole clicked her phone off as she put it aside. She fell back on her mattress as she once more stared at the ceiling. Her room hung in dead silence as she reflected on her day.

After a while, she began to close her eyes.

* * *

_Four years, one month earlier…_

There was a knock on Nicole's door.

"Nic?" A voice asked. "Can I come in?"

Nicole moaned in response, burrowing deeper underneath her blanket.

During her time in the Flynn-Fletcher residence, she had to sleep in the guest room. It was plainly set up: a small bed with blue sheets, a closet, and a mirror on one of the walls. As it wasn't used much, there were still a few boxes near the corners for storage. There was a lamp and the ceiling fan was capable of creating light, though both were off. The only light in the room came from the window, as there was a lamppost outside.

The door creaked open regardless. A pair of two footsteps walked across the floor. One was a pair of sneakers; the other, a pattering of webbed feet. The bed creaked under the weight of someone sitting down and a small animal going onto the bed.

"Hey," Phineas greeted – Nicole nearly cringed at how much sympathy was in his words. "You okay?"

"Peachy," she replied. It didn't come out particularly bitter or sarcastic – for once, Nicole was hoping for that – more…melancholy.

There was a pause. Nicole could practically see Phineas bite his lip, looking at Perry in thought. Then, he began, "Look, Nic… I heard the conversation. Like, all of it. I can't imagine how hard this must be – and I do mean that, becoming a lawyer is the one thing I haven't done. But… If you need to talk, about anything, anything at all–."

"Phineas."

She could feel his glance turn towards her. She couldn't bring herself to look at him, though – tears were stinging her eyes, and they would've overflowed if she saw him.

"I appreciate you wanting to make me feel better," she told him. "But… I just want to be alone right now. All this talk of rescheduling court dates, delays, dropped lawyers, an even _longer _time before Patrick can get out… It's making me sick. Just leave me be, okay?"

There was a silence. A few tears managed to escape Nicole's eyes and leak onto her bed.

Finally, there was a _creak_ as Phineas stood up. He walked to the door, mumbling, "Come on, Perry," as he exited. After a moment, the door closed.

However, she still wasn't alone.

Perry stood up after the door closed, moving across the bed. He walked over Nicole's legs and stopped near her stomach. He circled around a little before Nicole finally chirped in: "I meant you too, Perry."

The teal platypus laid down regardless.

Nicole sighed, but that was as much protest as she gave. They stayed there, quiet in the dark, for a long time. At some point, Perry fell asleep, his nose slightly whistling as he breathed. Nicole placed a hand on the platypus' back a while afterwards in some weak attempt of a pet. If he felt it, he didn't show any signs of it.

Her hand hadn't moved when she nodded off herself.

* * *

_Three years ago…_

_Patrick –_

_Hey, how's it _

_So, I heard about_

_Any news from the lawyer about_

Each time she tried to start the letter, Nicole found herself reading it, hating it, and quickly scratching it out. This time's attempt was some generic _"What's blah blah like?" _She was on the couch in the living room, laying along the stretch of it (excluding the end of one of the cushions, currently occupied by a sleeping Perry.) The dim sunlight of outside only reinforced how early it was today. Like Nicole was able to get much sleep – how could she, with everything that was going on?

She once more began scratching out her beginning as she heard of someone coming downstairs. A quick glance over the couch revealed it to be Ferb. Not surprising – even Nicole knew Ferb was usually the earliest up.

He rubbed his eyes slightly as Nicole greeted, "Morning, Ferb."

This managed to startle the Brit. However, he calmed down a little when he realized it was only Nicole. He gave her a feeble wave and scratched the scruff of Perry's neck, waking the platypus up. Perry stood up, glanced left and right, and shook out something in his fur. He jumped down from the couch and accompany Ferb into the kitchen (walking with a bit of a limp. Again, not uncommon – the platypus sometimes showed up at the house completely bruised up – though it took Nicole off-guard.)

She was about to go back to her letter when Ferb asked from the kitchen, "Couldn't sleep?"

"Didn't," Nicole corrected. She looked over her notepad to see Ferb grabbing the Orange Juice out of the fridge. She got up as she continued: "How could I?"

"Point taken," Ferb had taken out two glasses as Nicole entered. Perry groggily chewed on his food as the glasses were placed on the counter.

"What about you?" Nicole glanced over at the stove clock – it read '7:15'. "You're up earlier than usual."

Ferb shrugged as he poured himself a glass of Orange Juice. "I think Phineas' mumbling woke me up."

He handed the carton to his companion. She accepted as she inquired, "What was tonight's dream?"

"Something about an invention and a zebra named 'Kevin'."

"Kevin?"

"I have no idea."

Nicole, having filled her glass halfway, handed the vial of OJ back to Ferb. He placed it inside the fridge as she took a long sip of her drink. There was a silence, the only noise being Perry munching on his food.

A decent ten minutes later, there was another sound: footsteps, hurrying down the stairs. Ferb, Nicole, and even Perry turned to see Phineas rushing towards the kitchen. The redhead's eyes were wild, with a thought flying a mile a minute.

"Oh, good, both of you are awake." Phineas slid across the tiled floor of the kitchen slightly as he hurried to one of the cabinets. "Look, I had this _crazy_ idea last night! Okay, so, Isabella mentioned yesterday how she still has to find a rare fish for her Fireside Girl's 'Aquatic Oddities' Patch? Well, I figured out a way we can help her!" Phineas scrambled over to the counter with what he was looking for: rubber bands. He crisscrossed two of them as he explained, "Okay, so we can create these tubes with a sticky substance to stick to our necks designed like this. We place them on either side and put two holes on the side. Each one of these has a tube connected to it that would go in our noses. By putting in a filter, water could go in the tubes, but only air would go to our lungs. That way, we can go scuba diving without too much heavy equipment and–!"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down there a sec." Nicole interjected. "You want us to go _scuba diving _in _October?_"

"Don't worry, the suits are thermal." Phineas reassured, turning to her. "We'll be fine."

Before any other concerns could be said, Phineas hurried out the room, saying, "Meet me outside in twenty minutes. I know what we're going to do today!"

When Phineas was halfway up the stairs, Ferb chuckled. He put his empty glass in the sink as Nicole asked, "You're not _seriously _going along with this, are you?"

"Well, you know Phineas." Ferb pointed out. "When he has an idea – _any _idea, no matter how ludicrous – he can't be talked out of it."

Nicole laughed a little as well. "Fair enough," she commented. Her own empty glass went into the sink as she added, "But I'm bringing an extra jacket."

* * *

"_Oh, come on!"_

"_I said _no,_ Phineas. I'm not changing my mind."_

"_Please? Really, Nicole, they're nice people!"_

"_Yeah, nice people who would LOVE to see my head on a pike. I'm not meeting them."_

"_You're overreacting!"_

"_I'm _underreacting! _Phineas, no means N–!"_

* * *

_Present Day…_

Nicole was jolted awake by the sound of a loud piano riff.

The piano riff continued as she rubbed her eyes, groaning. She glanced over at the clock. Yep, it was four o'clock in morning, on the dot. After a small yawn, she answered her phone, whose contact read "**That Guy**".

"Yeah?" she groggily asked. "… Wait, why would the Martians fake the Moon Landing? … That doesn't make any sense! They're from_ Mars. _Besides, wouldn't humans going to other planets be counterproductive to this 'huge-ass space invasion'? … Hello? … You fell asleep, didn't you?"

A soft snore on the other line answered her.

She sighed. "Well, good night, then." She was about to hang up when she paused. "And, uh… Thanks. I needed that."

She ended the phone call.


	5. Readjustments

_**A/N: ...And now I look like a huge liar. Sorry for the wait! Things have been pretty busy lately. I promise the next one will come out soon. With that said, I hope you enjoy!**_

* * *

**Chapter Five: Readjustments**

_Four years, three months earlier…_

Nicole was getting real sick of the construction noises coming from the backyard.

Every time she tried to write a letter, read a book, even just _think_, it was always interrupted with the whir of a tool. A particularly _loud _and _obnoxious _tool, if she might say so herself. She had figured out pretty quickly that the Flynn-Fletcher boys were into building, as were some of their friends. Personally, Nicole was never good at Mathematics, Advanced Engineering, or pretty much anything involving a ridiculously high IQ, so building a transdimensional portal? Not really her thing.

At the sound of yet another jackhammer, Nicole growled as her pencil snapped under her tightened grip.

"Pretty annoying, huh?"

Nicole turned to see Candace, the boys' older sister. Her orange hair curled slightly at the end. Her usual attire was replaced by a pair of blue jeans, white semi-turtleneck, green scarf, and bright brown boots. It was the first time Nicole had ever seen the sixteen-year-old so calm.

"Yeah," she agreed. She took another look at Candace as the girl grabbed a purse. "Don't you usually, like, try to 'bust' them or something?"

"I'm taking an off day." Candace explained. "I do it once every two weeks. Even _I_ need a break once in a while!" The Flynn turned back to see Nicole looking for another pencil. "How come you haven't joined the other kids?"

"Well, last I checked, I'm not a super genius." Nicole managed to find a dull-tipped pencil. "I wouldn't be able to understand _half_ of what they're doing."

"You could still hang out with them." Candace looked out the window. "They usually build a ride or something."

The Native American slightly laughed off the thought.

Nicole searched for a sharpener as Candace thought for a moment.

"Look, I'm not _thrilled _to have you in my house," Candace began. "But I can't stand seeing you just mope around all day. Join the others in the backyard. Try out the machine they're building. Cheer from the sidelines, if you have to! Just readjust whatever you're doing right now, because as long as you're here, you're _not_ going to be happy."

Nicole didn't even glance up.

Candace sighed, turning around and heading out the door.

However, after she left, Nicole did lift her head. She sat in silence (mostly – construction work and all) for the next few minutes.

Finally, she sighed.

Nicole grabbed what she was working on and went to the living room. There, she could easily see Phineas and Ferb through the glass doors. They talked, worked, and laughed with their friends as they worked on the day's project. It looked pretty fun, actually... Still, Nicole didn't want to join them. Initial opinions aside, her first meeting with the trio of Phineas and Ferb's friends still left a sour taste in all their mouths. She figured it best to just leave them be.

Nicole walked over to sit on the couch. She continued working (despite the noise from outside,) occasionally glancing to the side to see what was going on.

* * *

_Present Day…_

French was quickly becoming the bane of Nicole's existence.

Not only had she missed a month of classes, but she never even _had _French before coming here. Madame Insert-Complex-Name-Here spoke near fluent French as she taught the class, so taking notes was a fruitless task. Nicole was pretty much stuck sitting still for forty minutes, trying her best to make a lick of sense out of anything. And with that came daydreams, which was _not _a good thing nowadays.

As the Madame gave another lecture, Nicole felt a tap on her shoulder. She glanced to her right to see a man sitting next to her, wearing a disguise so obvious that Nicole tried her best not to make a snide remark about it.

"Have another pencil?" The man whispered.

Nicole was taken aback by the familiar voice.

"Buford?" She whispered in response. "Is that–?"

"_Shush!_" Buford quickly stopped her. "We'll talk after class. Just give me a pencil."

Though extremely confused, Nicole handed a pencil to Buford. He quickly scribbled down something as Nicole turned back, becoming lost in her thoughts once more.

It wasn't before long that the bell that ended class rang. Nicole quickly got up, being the first one out the door. She was heading back to her locker when she noticed Buford trailing her. She let him catch up.

"_Now _are you going to explain what you're wearing?" Nicole asked when he was beside her.

Buford began taking off his hat as he explained. "I traveled to France a while ago. I met a girl there, Brigitte, and we hit it off. After I left, I only saw her one other time, but that's a long story. I never really got off the French kick, though, and I'm still learning the language. But this doesn't leave us! If someone found out I was taking French _willingly, _who _knows_ what would happen!"

Nicole stayed quiet as she finally reached her locker. She put in the combination when she noticed Buford's confused look out of the corner of her eye.

"What?" She asked, glancing at him.

"Nothing, it's just… Are you okay? You seem tense."

Nicole's hand gripped a little harder on her locker as it swung open. However, it just as quickly loosened alongside a nervous chuckle.

"'Tense'?" She began, sticking a hand into her locker. She pulled out a tiny sheet of paper – an invite to something Tangerine had planned for the evening – and ripped it up as she continued. "I'm not _tense. _What on _Earth _makes you think that being stuck in a town I don't want to be in, being around people I didn't want to face again, and constantly harassed by the guy who owns the locker next to mine would make me _tense?!"_

Nicole had dropped the ripped-up paper on the floor as she raided through her locker. After a moment, Buford picked it up and stuck it into his pocket.

"Are you doing anything after school?"

The teen froze. She turned her head towards Buford. "No… Why?"

"Meet me at this address at four." Buford scribbled something down on one of the slips of ripped paper. He handed it back to her, which she warily accepted. "Dress in something you can work out in."

With that, Buford readjusted his backpack strap and walked away. Nicole, greatly confused, looked at the address he'd given her.

* * *

_Four years, two months earlier…_

"Nervous?" Phineas asked Nicole. The two of them were sitting on a yellow school bus. Summer was officially over and a flock of slightly melancholy students entered the bus for the first day of school. General chatter seemed to pick up the mood a little, though not for Nicole. Until Phineas had spoken, she had been vacantly staring out the window. Not thinking, really; just watching the scenery blur past. When the Flynn had asked the question, though, she turned to look at him.

She shrugged. "A little. I guess I really don't know why I'm here."

"Well, Mom and Dad wouldn't just let you sit around all day when you could go to school." Phineas commented. "Getting you back to family _has_ been taking a while."

"Yeah… It's been a nightmare." Nicole slumped back in her seat. "I guess that makes sense. I dunno. Maybe I'm worried about interacting with everyone. Aside from you, Ferb, and your friends, I haven't had a whole lot of interaction with people in this town."

"You'll be fine_,_" Phineas reassured her. "I promise we don't bite."

The two of them chuckled.

The bus jerked to a sudden stop. The light brown elementary school looked inviting enough with a few students walking towards the entrance. People on the bus began to disembark. Phineas stood up, glancing at Nicole, whose fingers nervously fidgeted as she stared at the building.

"Come on; we don't want to be late." Nicole turned her head to see Phineas exiting the bus.

A small smile tugged at her lips as she followed suit.

* * *

_Present Day…_

Nicole looked at the address Buford had given her yet again.

Yes, she was definitely at the right building: the Googolplex Mall, its many windows still shining as it had four years prior. She didn't have proper workout clothes, so a spare pajama shirt, large black shorts, and worn-in sneakers would have to do.

She was beginning to second guess whether she should have come when she heard someone call out her name. Nicole turned around to see Buford, wearing a pair of gym clothes, waving as he went towards her. She waved back a little as he managed to reach her.

"Alright, so what's all this about?" Nicole asked, following Buford into the mall.

"Just follow me," Buford cryptically replied.

The second thoughts returned as they weaved through the crowd. Finally, Buford stopped in front of a store. The blue and yellow sign had a stereotypical tough guy giving a thumbs up next to the store's name: "_Wedgie's: The Gym for Bullies"._

Nicole raised an eyebrow as Buford explained, "I know you're a pretty aggressive person, so I figured you could relieve some tension by punching the crap out of something." He turned to her. "Well?"

After a moment, she shrugged. "Sounds like a plan."

The two entered the gym.

* * *

As Buford and the owner of Wedgie's talked off to the side, Nicole looked around the gym. It was mostly empty, save for the previously mentioned company. Some of the workout machines were what you could expect at someplace famed as a "bully gym": toilet dunking, book upheaval, and (of course) wedgie practice. Still, there were some more traditional ways to work out in the gym, such as yoga mats or a well-worn punching bag. Not a bad place when all's said and done.

"You might wanna grab some gloves from the bin," Buford commented as he walked to Nicole. "I once saw someone break their wrist after punching the bag too hard."

Nicole obliged, putting on a pair of medium-sized boxing gloves. They walked to the punching bag, Buford standing off to the side a bit as Nicole stood squarely in front of it.

"…So, do I just hit it really hard, or…?" Nicole inquired, giving Buford a sideways glance.

"That's the idea. Just keep your wrist level and thumb inside your fist."

"Okay, so like this?"

Nicole formed a fist and lightly punched the bag. It barely swayed from the impact.

"Yeah, just hit harder."

"…Like this, then?"

The teen punched the bag again with her opposite hand, slightly harder. It swayed a little more this time, though the punch was clearly too weak.

"Harder."

Another punch; this one made the bag fully go back.

"_Harder."_

Yet another hit as soon as the bag came back; it went even farther than the last time. Nicole showed clear signs of becoming irritated.

"I know you can punch harder than_ that, _Bonabel. Hit the bag _**harder!**_"

Nicole let out a small growl as she punched it once more, swinging the bag so far back it nearly touched the wall.

The next hour was full of punching, kicking and squatting as Buford and Nicole figured out a routine for her. By the time they were finished, a sheet of loose leaf was filled with a complete workout, a free thirty day trial membership to Wedgie's was arranged, and Nicole nearly collapsed in a pile of sweat. She'd broken through the first layer of skin on both of her knuckles – a common occurrence, according to Buford – but it had worked. Nicole couldn't remember the last time she was as relaxed as she was saying goodbye to Buford, walking back to her nearby apartment.


	6. One Week

_**A/N: Quick notice: there's a POV shift in this chapter. Nicole's the narrator.**_

* * *

**Chapter Six: One Week**

_So, how's life?_

Nicole glanced at the text from "**This Guy**" while folding towels. Part of the arrangement between Patrick and their family friend was that Nicole worked on weekends for the hotel. Mostly housekeeping; laundry and such. Part of her pay would cover her rent and for food and other necessities. She unlocked the phone to reply:

Alright, actually

Folding towels right now

Working on French later

Send me some motivation through whatever magic process you got up your sleeves

…_You can do it?_

There was a pause.

Wow

I can already tell you'll be the best damn motivational speaker in the world

_I try._

Nicole chuckled.

_Hey, my sister was wondering how your week was._

Like I said, fine

_You know she won't just accept that._

What am I supposed to do then?

Tell her everything through text?

_Fair enough._

_Call her?_

Another pause, this one a little longer.

Listen

We have known each other for four years

Mostly talking through our phones mind you

And you have not given me her number

Once

EVER

_Oh yeah_

_ I was afraid you'd complain about her spamming your phone every three minutes._

You wake me up every other night with random conspiracy crap

_...Touché._

How about I call through your phone?

Yet again, a pause. Then:

_Try not to exceed half an hour?_

Don't plan to

_Good._

_Expect a call within the next few minutes._

K

Nicole placed her phone down. She managed to fold a few more towels before it rang again, reading her friend's contact. She hit 'Accept', raising her phone to her ear.

…An act she would immediately regret, as the phone's speaker nearly broke from a squeal.

"Whoa, calm down! I sorta _need _my hearing!" Nicole advised, turning her phone's volume down. "… Yeah, I'm alright, thanks. What about you? … Wow, congrats! Isn't he on the soccer team or something? … *sigh* Everything's going _fine. _Do you _really_ need a comprehensive list of my week? … You're just really bored, aren't you? … Yeah, he's the same way. … Ugh, _fine_. Here's what happened…"

* * *

_**Monday**_

I was sitting in the cafeteria near Phineas, Ferb, and Isabella. Buford couldn't attend – claimed to have practice for a sport, though I think he was doing something for my French teacher. Ferb had just finished a story about how Baljeet – someone I knew back when I first came to Danville – had been spending the last three months at college when Isabella checked the clock. She stood up, grabbing her plate.

"I have to go to debate," she explained. "We have an emergency meeting in a few minutes. Something about Mrs. Hooper getting sick."

She walked away as Ferb and I waved farewell. However, I noticed that Phineas hadn't stopped staring at the direction she walked away in. In fact, I hadn't heard him talk all throughout Lunch – he just had this vacant, yearning look in his eyes.

"Phineas?" I said. He didn't so much as turn.

"Hello…?" Again, no reply.

"Phineas!" I snapped my fingers. This finally managed to get his attention, as he quickly turned with a small blush.

"S-sorry," he apologized.

He picked at his half-eaten meal as I gave him a look. "You alright?"

"Head over _heels_," Ferb said in a sing-song voice.

Phineas' blush got redder by the second. "Shut up!" He shoved Ferb, who was snickering.

I quickly pieced two and two together. "Wait, _you _have a crush on _Isabella?_"

Phineas quickly shushed me, gesturing to quiet down. He looked back and forth a few times before whispering, "I've had a crush on her since freshmen year. I – I don't want to get in her _way_ or anything – I mean, she's busy enough without _my _help – but if I could just get the guts to ask her out…"

He sighed.

However, I was five seconds away from going into hysterics. Isabella had been pining after him for years_. _Literal _**years**_**_!_ **And now the tables had freaking _somersaulted _around! This was _rich!_

Ferb noticed my barely contained laughter and quickly shook his head, mouthing _"Don't_." Luckily, Phineas got up, saying he had to do something before class. As soon as he left, I turned to Ferb.

"You _seriously _haven't told him yet?" I asked, astounded.

"It's an inside joke between Buford, Baljeet, and I." He explained. "But, for the love of God, _don't tell Phineas or Isabella. _If _either _of them knew we were keeping this from them, they'd kill us!"

"What? Even counting me out, you guys have pretty good odds against Phineas or Isabella."

"Have you seen Isabella play soccer?"

"No."

"Trust me,_ we do not have good odds._"

Before I could press him further, the bell rang. We had to leave and I haven't brought up the subject with him since.

* * *

_**Tuesday**_

Nothing much happened, really – none that I can remember, at least, given there was an incident during Dodgeball at Gym. Quick tip: don't insist you can take on the pitcher of the school's baseball team during _any _sport that requires throwing. Trust me. _You can't_.

* * *

_**Wednesday**_

Several tests, most of which I probably failed. Ugh.

* * *

_**Thursday**_

Nothing particularly interesting at school, though I ran into Isabella in the Mall. I had just finished up a workout at Wedgie's when Isabella walked by with some of her friends. They broke off briefly and she noticed me leaving. She managed to get my attention and we went to a nearby coffee kiosk.

"You work out at Wedgies?" Isabella asked.

I shrugged. "Buford got me hooked. Turns out punching a bag full of sand for an hour eases my nerves."

She replied with an 'Hm' and ordered a latte. (I got a water.) When she got her drink, we went off to the side and sat in silence for a few minutes.

"So… Anything new happen in four years?" I asked (mostly to break the quiet).

Isabella let out a single airy laugh. "If you mean between me and Phineas, I'm not chasing him anymore. The guy couldn't take a hint after fourteen _years _and I had more responsibilities to attend to. I simply dropped it."

"That's it, then? You're over him?"

Her hand tightened around her latte.

"Not…_completely,_ no." She finally answered. "It's just… Ugh. I grew _tired _getting him to notice me, you know? It's not even worth the effort half the time! And yet…"

She sighed.

I considered telling her about what Ferb mentioned on Monday – really, the first time I had thought about it since then – but her friends had finally tracked her down. We said goodbye and went our separate ways.

* * *

_**Friday**_

Phineas and Ferb unveiled a new invention of theirs. Turns out that only do that once a week nowadays – they don't have enough time to build something every single day. This week's invention was due to a complaint that cafeteria portions had grown rather small and someone commissioned the "Food Expander" to be made. (They also came up with the name.) Eventually, someone decided to expand their Egg Salad, another person insulted them, one thing led to another, and I spent the next twenty minutes behind an overturned table trying not to be nailed in the face with Yams. One of the teachers managed to stop the chaos and sent the guys who started the food fight to the Principal's Office. Phineas and Ferb got off with a warning, as they hadn't meant for things to escalate the way they had.

* * *

"…And that's what happened this week. Are you happy?" Nicole was lying on her bed, all the towels folded beside her. She laughed at her friend's response. "Oh, thank _God_. Look, I have to go. French homework. … Thanks, I'll need it. Oh, and, uh, tell your brother I'll send him his money as soon as I can. I just remembered a bet I lost. ... Thanks. Bye!"

Nicole clicked off her phone once again.


	7. Morning Coffee

_**A/N: UGH, WHY AM I SO BAD AT UPDATING THIS REGULARLY?! Again, I'm sorry for making you guys wait over a MONTH for an update. If you've been sticking with this story for a while, you're a real trooper. Well, it's a longer chapter than usual, so I hope that helps things. I promise to update within the next week or two!**_

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Morning Coffee**

_Two years earlier…_

The door slammed shut, its echo catching Nicole's attention.

The apartment she and her brother lived in was _far _from perfect. The faucet leaked often, warm water was a nonentity, and Nicole was seventy-five percent sure the entire pest population lived just under their floorboards. They shared a King-sized mattress to sleep on, with only a thin blue blanket to cover the both of them. The foldable table and chairs they owned was the only thing _not _immensely covered with grime. Though Nicole knew living in a vaguely healthy home was better than the streets, so she didn't complain.

Patrick sulked across the floor, dropping a bag of food on the table. Nicole watched quietly as he went over to the mattress and fell on top of it, his Slushy Dawg hat falling in front of him. A few minutes of silence passed.

Finally, Nicole found it safe enough to approach her exhausted brother. She sat a few feet away from him, legs crisscrossed.

"So," she began, "how was work?"

"Aside from the constant disrespect from everyone for doing a job so we can survive? _Peachy_," Patrick answered, not bothering to pick his head up.

Another beat of quiet. Finally, Nicole took out a small green bill from her pocket and flattened out the crinkles. She silently slipped the bill under her brother's face and waited.

Patrick finally picked his head up. He looked down, picked up the bill, and examined it for a moment. He turned to the side and let his elbow support his upper body as he gave his sister an accusing look.

"Nicole, what's this?" Patrick inquired, holding up the paper bill.

"Twenty dollars," Nicole simply answered. "Why?"

"…How did you _get _twenty dollars?"

She shrugged. "I found it on the street. No one seemed to be looking for it, so I took it."

"…Someone _dropped_ twenty dollars on the street. And didn't notice."

"Hey, it was in of those rich neighborhoods! They practically _sneeze _twenty dollar bills!"

Patrick sighed. "Nicole, you just don't _find _twenty dollars lying on the ground. Now, tell me, _where did you get this?"_

"It was on the street, I swear! I just happened to pick it up!"

Patrick narrowed his eyes, studying his sister's features. Nicole didn't change her expression – why would she? It wasn't like she was lying. Finally, Patrick's eyes returned to normal and his face softened slightly.

"…Well, that was some good luck then, huh?" Patrick stuck the twenty in his pocket, sitting up fully.

"Yeah," Nicole agreed. Her stomach suddenly growled. "So, what's for dinner?"

"The same thing it has been for the last three nights," Patrick sighed.

Nicole hesitated a moment before offering half a smile. "Eh, what's one more time going to do to us?"

Patrick offered the other half of the grin before standing up.

* * *

_Present Day…_

Nicole's eyes flashed open at the sound of a familiar piano riff. She glanced at her clock. Yep, it was four in the morning, on the dot. She groaned. After a few seconds of blindly feeling around for her phone in the darkness, she grabbed it and hit 'Accept'.

"Oh my _God, _it's _Tuesday._" Nicole grumbled, placing her fingers on the crook of her nose. "This is one of the days you let me _sleep! _… You could've discovered what the hell happened to Amelia _Earhart _and I could give half a crap! Unlike you, I can't operate on four hours of sleep! … Ugh, fine, what is it? … _What? That's _the earth-shattering theory you woke me up for?! … Well, first of all, it doesn't make sense on a technical level! How the hell would the Flying Spaghetti Monster be able to control a puppet of the president? ... _**Pasta doesn't work like that. **_Are you even _listening _to – Hello? … *sigh* And you're out."

Nicole hung up in a huff. She fell back, landing on her back and shut her eyes.

But sleep didn't come as easily as she hoped.

She tossed, turned, and readjusted her pillow and blanket, but nothing worked. Finally, she groaned, completely throwing off the blanket. She turned her head to the clock on her bedside table. It read _**"4:45"**_ in its electronic lettering.

Nicole sighed. _Who's going to be up at nearly five in the—?_

She stopped, opening her eyes once again. Grabbing her phone, she scrolled through her contact list before clicking on a number. She placed the phone next to her ear and let it ring. After the third tone, someone answered.

"Hey, had a feeling you'd be awake. Wanna meet up?"

* * *

_One Month Earlier…_

"You're _**what?!**_"

Patrick sighed, putting down the letter he'd received from Tri-State State University. Nicole could still see the word "congratulations" out of the corner of her eye. However, that wasn't the thing that got her ungodly pissed.

No, _that _would be the Danville High brochure he still held.

"Nic, it's for the best," he began. "Education is—."

"_No_, no, you're not pulling that motivational _bullcrap_ on me! Do you have _any _idea what it's going to be like to transfer to a new school in a new state _in October?!_"

"Gee, I guess I don't." The response was oozing with sarcasm. "It's not like _I'm_ basically doing the exact same thing. God, if anything, your transition's going to be _easier_ – I haven't been in an actual school in four years! At least you know what you're getting into."

"Yeah, _pain. _And a lot of it! Why can't I just stay _here?"_

"Without a job?"

"I can get one!"

"You won't be able to afford this place even with a half-time job."

"Then I'll drop out!"

"_Nicole."_

She groaned, falling back onto the lone mattress in the room to collect her rapid-fire thoughts. "Look, Patrick, I'm happy you got into college and I know you mean well. But I just can't pick up and move everything to Danville!"

"Why not? You're the one always complaining about how much you _hate_ your school here. What's with this sudden heel turn?"

Nicole stayed silent.

She had mentioned Phineas and Ferb to Patrick before. I mean, she lived at their _house _for a little over a year; of course the subject came up before. In fact, it had partially influenced Patrick's choice of Tri-State State, since it wasn't too far from Danville. But…it had been four _years _since the last form of actual communication between any of them. So much could have changed in that time that Nicole figured the chance of meeting them again was next to _none_.

But she decided not to bring this up to Patrick.

Instead, she sighed.

"Yeah, I… I guess you have a point." Nicole didn't even attempt to hide the glum tone. "When should I start packing?"

* * *

_Present Day…_

Nicole allowed herself a small sigh of relief when she saw Phineas.

A part of her doubted he would be awake right now, much less join her. But there he was, sitting in a black metal chair in front of a coffee shop (the only place opened at five in the morning.) His hair was still somewhat messy, as he only skimmed it with a comb, but he looked relatively presentable.

As soon as he saw Nicole, he gave her a small wave, which she returned. He got up as soon as she was within a few feet of the table.

"Hey," she greeted. "Thanks for meeting up with me."

"Ah, it's nothing." Phineas shrugged. "Honestly, I'm surprised you knew I woke up this early."

"…Phineas, I lived with you for a _year._ If anything, you should be shocked _this _was the thing I remembered most."

Phineas let out a small laugh. He opened the door of the shop and the two went in.

* * *

_Three years earlier…_

"Nicole?"

It was the fifth time her name rang through the house. No, wait… _Sixth_ time. She'd lost count for a moment there. Still, Nicole absolutely refused to budge from her spot. It surprised her how comfy the red tiled rooftop of the Flynn-Fletcher house could be. (That or she simply had grown numb to it.)

"Hey, Ferb, have you seen—?"

Phineas' voice stopped. Nicole grew a tad panicked when she heard the creaks of footsteps ascending a ladder. How was it that it was always _Ferb _that found her in the end? Was he just always hovering around her or something?!

Before Nicole could figure out a good hiding spot, the skylight opened. She turned her head to find Phineas, standing in the middle of it. She quickly darted her attention back to the lamp lights in the street below.

"Go _away, _Phineas." Nicole pleaded. "I don't want to see anyone right now."

Normally, the Flynn would've given her a concerned look at the back of her head before leaving. Tonight, however:

"No."

This admittedly surprised Nicole. Phineas – _Phineas_, go-with-the-flow, "avoid conflict as much as possible" _Phineas_ – stepped out onto the roof.

"Phineas—!"

"No, I'm not leaving you up here! I always leave you alone after something like this, and it everything gets worse! Can we just…_talk _for a change?"

Again, the response took her aback. Still, she didn't protest further. The redhead carefully scaled the rooftop until reaching her side. He sat down and adjusted a little, seeming uncomfortable (adding to the theory Nicole had simply grown used to the semi-sharp tiles.) There was a brief silence.

Phineas let out a tiny chuckle. "Great conversation so far, eh?"

Nicole looked at him, giving him a weird look. "What's the _deal_ with you?"

"…What?" The Flynn's eyebrows rose slightly.

"Oh, come _on, _Phineas, you know _exactly _what I mean!" Nicole began. "The first day we meet, I nearly shoot you in the eye. Your response? Disregard _all _your friends' warnings and take me back to your house! I give you clear signs every three minutes that I have no interest whatsoever with being social with _anyone _in this town, yet you constantly try to make me mingle with your friends! And they're not thrilled to see _me, _either; Isabella hates me to my core, Baljeet fears the ground I walk on, and Buford's… Okay, Buford's actually fine with me being around for _some_ reason, but you know what I mean! Then there was my little outburst tonight. I don't think there was a single person in _Danville _that couldn't hear me. Heck, people in _Oregon _probably heard me! And yet, here we are. You wanna _talk_ about something, Phineas? Well, I'd _love_ to know why you've _tolerated _me for so long, so why not start THERE?!"

By the end of it, Nicole dropped her arms, using them to pull her knees to her chest instead of wildly gesturing to nothing. She turned her head away from Phineas, so she couldn't see his reaction to her rant. A part of her expected his jaw to be dropping. He'd then snap it shut, realizing how _enraged _she made him, and storm away; probably to tell his parents he never wanted to see her again.

Instead:

"Is that really what you think about life here?"

Admittedly, Nicole hated hearing Phineas' typically upbeat tone become heartbroken. Still, she wasn't about to take back what she said. She turned her head to him, resolving to just be gentler. "…Well, yeah. I've sorta been miserable from the start."

She noticed a twinge of guilt in Phineas' face.

"Really?" Phineas looked down. "Jeez, I… I didn't…"

"Ah, don't beat yourself up over it." Nicole half-heartedly shrugged. "You've been busy enough without _my _help."

"Well, I'd still like to know if one of my friends is—! Are you okay?"

It was then Nicole realized she'd stiffened up.

"Y-yeah," she relaxed quickly. "Uh… what you were saying?"

"_Nicole._"

The Native American's gaze once more drifted towards the street. "I don't know, man… It's that word. 'Friends'. It just doesn't seem _real_ to me. How could someone give their complete and total trust to someone they could've known for a week? And expect that person _not _to use it for their own selfish needs, to abuse it?"

Phineas thought for a moment. He laid down on the roof, putting his hands behind his head as a sort of cushion. "Well, that's the thing: you really don't."

"That's comforting."

"_But _you've got to trust your instincts when it comes to this. There are people in this world that can really hurt you, but you have to trust yourself enough to say that person won't be one of them. It's scary, I know, but it's _really_ rewarding in the long run."

While Nicole could see his point, the whole speech just tied another knot in her stomach. What if she was wrong? What if they did turn out to be bad people? Could she really trust them to not do that to her? Could she even trust _herself _with making that decision?

Phineas seemed to pick up on this rather quickly. So, he did the only thing he could do: "Y'know, the sky sure is pretty tonight."

Nicole glanced up. There were a modest amount of stars out, with a small half-crescent of the Moon.

"'Pretty'? There's barely anything up there." Nicole pessimistically commented.

"Sure there is! Come on." He scooted over a bit, patting the rooftop twice with his hand. Nicole obliged, though not without an eye roll. Phineas scanned the sky briefly before pointing at some stars. "See? There's the Big Dipper right there. The Little Dipper's just under it." He shifted his finger's direction. "That's Pegasus right over there. It kind of looks like the Big Dipper with more legs."

Nicole laughed a little at that. She looked over the night sky herself before sticking her own pointer finger towards the sky. "There's Orion. The one with the three star belt."

"There's Perseus."

"Aquarius."

"Cassiopeia."

"Cassio-what?"

"You don't know Cassiopeia?"

"Nope."

"Oh, man! Alright, so she was this ancient Queen, right? The story goes that…"

The two spent a while looking at stars after that. They picked out constellations, "ooh"-ed when a comet passed by, and generally just talked about the night and space and all that came with it. For a while, Nicole was genuinely at ease with herself.

"Hey, Nicole?" Phineas suddenly asked. "Do you believe in second chances?"

She thought about it for a second. "Not really, no. Do you?"

"Yeah. I think everyone's capable of being a good person. Some just need a little more time than others." He hesitated a moment. "I think that's why I've 'tolerated' you for so long. You're a good person, Nic – you just need to handle some things first."

Nicole stayed quiet.

"…Y'know, there's actually this thing called 'acquaintances'. It's sorta like being friends, but without the deep bond and all." He turned his head to get a better look of her face. "Would you like to be my acquaintance, at least?"

She stayed quiet for a few moments, her expression blank.

Finally, she smiled.

"Yeah," she answered, turning to him. "I think I could be an acquaintance."

* * *

_Present Day…_

"It's really nice here," Nicole commented as Phineas put two coffees on their table. "How come I haven't heard of it?"

Phineas shrugged. "It's one of those places that locals only know. Besides, they're only opened 'till, like, ten. The coffee's really good, though, so it's worth waking up for." He pointed to the left mug. "This one's the decaf."

Nicole mumbled "thanks" as she picked up her cup. Aside from them, there were only three others in the entire shop: a barista, a woman typing on her laptop, and a middle-aged jogger. The coffee shop – Nicole never found out its name – was heavily Moroccan influenced. The darkly patterned carpets, the lanterns on the tables; you could even sit on pillows! They had picked out an actual table, though, allowing a nice view through one of the large windows of the early morning Danville streets.

The Native American had barely taken a sip of her drink before hearing Phineas chuckle. "What?"

"Oh, nothing, it's just… Have you _always _hated caffeine?"

"Yep. Caffeine's always added a weird taste to drinks for me. I know it _sounds _weird, but it does happen."

"Eh, everyone has their own tastes." He paused. "Honestly, I've sort of been scarred from ever drinking Apple Juice again."

"Apple Juice?" She chuckled. "What's so bad about Apple Juice?"

"Well, considering fruit is technically the fertilized eggs of trees, it's like drinking—."

"NEVERMIND, NEVERMIND! The first part of that sentence is _already _grossing me out!"

Phineas laughed. "Fine, if you say so."

Nicole took a long drink of her coffee, as did Phineas. There was (get this) a silence.

"So, uh…" Phineas began, causing Nicole to look up. "How's Danville been treating you this time?"

She stopped the cup halfway to her lips.

"Well, it's definitely better _now_ than it was when I first arrived." Nicole began. "To be honest, I was absolutely _terrified_ when I first saw you again."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, come on. Four years is a _really _long time. We'd lost touch ages ago! I didn't know if you moved, completely changed, or just didn't remember me. I guess I just sorta…panicked at the thought of meeting you or any of the others again."

There was a long, hefty silence.

"…Was it as bad as you thought?" Phineas finally asked.

Nicole let out an airy chuckle. "That's the worst part about all this: it _wasn't._ I worked up myself over _nothing._"

Phineas shrugged. "Eh, we all have moments. At least it's over, right?"

The redhead took a sip of his coffee as Nicole let the words sink in.

Suddenly, she smiled.

"Yeah," she finally said. "I guess it is."

Phineas gained his own smile and held up his cup. "To four more years in Danville?"

Nicole looked as his cup and picked up her own. "I'll drink to that."

They shared a laugh as their coffee cups _clinked._


	8. The Consequences of Messing with Fire

**Chapter Eight: The Consequences of Messing with Fire**

Nicole opened her locker, slightly smiling. The teen was basically alone in the hall, as the bell had rung twenty minutes ago. It seemed like the book end for a near-perfect day. For the first time in weeks, she actually spent the entire day clear headed. No lingering doubts or worries; no overhanging fear of the unknown; no resurfaced memories. All she wanted to do now was get home and relax.

And she would've, had there not been a sudden loud _bang _right next to her.

She jumped a little, though it was only Tangerine.

_Oh, great, just when I thought it was going to be a GOOD day…_ Nicole scowled at the sound of Tangerine's laughter.

"Man, frightened you, didn't I?" He jeered. "Surprised that I've graced you with my presence today?"

"Annoyed would be a better word for it..." Nicole mumbled, rubbing her temples. She spoke a little louder as she said, "Look, Tangerine, I'm actually in a good mood today, so could, like, _not _ruin it with your mere existence? That'd be wonderful." She turned back to her locker to put up something.

"Meet me at the docks tonight and I will." Out of the corner of her eye, Nicole noticed Tangerine's smirk.

Nicole balled up her left fist, slamming her locker shut. She looked Tangerine dead in the eye before beginning:

"Listen up, asshole – and listen well, because this is the _last _time I'm saying this – _I am not_ _interested. _I have never _been _interested and I never _will._ For the past month, you've _always_ asked that same damn question, and my answer has always been_ no._ I have listed every single reason why I've said _no,_ including, but not limited to: the inability to keep up with the responsibilities of a relationship, very little free time, _you're a dick_, and, y'know, general disinterest. I have rejected you in both English AND French; I've blocked any holes in my locker to stop notes; I've blocked your phone number (how did you even GET mine?); there is literally no other way I could say 'no' any louder! But, hey, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Just in case you've misinterpreted _every_ _single_ _one_ of my refusals, I'll say it one last time: I DO NOT LIKE YOU. PISS. _**OFF."**_

There was a brief silence.

"So… Maybe?"

Nicole let out an exasperated _"AUGH" _before storming off. Tangerine quickly caught up.

"Oh, come on, babe…" Tangerine grabbed her right arm, which happened to be swinging back.

That did it. Nicole turned around, eyes flaming with rage, and punched him right in the nose.

His hand completely let go of her arm as he stumbled backwards. He checked his hands – they were slightly stained with blood.

"Don't. Call me. _Babe."_

Nicole readjusted her backpack strap and began walking away coldly. She didn't need to be a psychic to feel him glare at the back of her head.

"_Bitch!"_ Tangerine swore. "I think half of my nose's broke!"

"Good!" Nicole's stride didn't even falter.

"…You mother—YOU'LL REGRET THIS!"

"Oh no, I'm trebling in my boots! You deserve _worse_, jackass."

And with that, she opened the thick, steel entrance doors and left.

* * *

"...So, I punched him." Nicole paused as "**This Guy**" gave his response. "_No,_ that was _not _an overreaction. Honestly, he was a borderline _stalker!_ If I could, I'd file a restraining order against him!"

Her friend began a lecture with his next reply. As he talked, Nicole looked around the downtown area. Autumn was far more present than it was before. The leaves had been transforming into reds, yellows, and oranges, sure, but the chill had been pretty much nonexistent. But tonight was a cool seventy degrees, shown by the various long clothes everyone was wearing. Even Nicole had on her discolored tan jacket and a black wool scarf. The street was moderately busy, but not the worst Nicole had seen. Tonight was probably one of the best nights Nicole had ever been through.

"Hm? You finished?" Nicole asked, earning her a sour comment from "**This Guy**". "Oh, take a joke. … Oh, tonight? I was just planning to—."

She cut herself off. Looking around, she noticed a small café across the street. She'd heard it was good before and not too pricey. Nicole checked her pockets; she had about thirty dollars.

"…Actually, I was planning on eating out tonight. Having something _else _besides Ramen sounds _terrific_ right now. … Yeah, I'll text you later. … Bye."

Nicole ended the call before walking across the street.

* * *

Nicole took in a deep breath of air, wearing a full-on grin. The smell of burning wood filled her lungs. Man, she couldn't remember a time she was this happy! As she walked back to her apartment building, Nicole began to wonder what to do for the next hour or two. Her friend had prior engagements, so he was off the table; the Googolplex closed an hour or two ago, so Wedgie's was out; maybe get in touch with one of the boys? Well, there was a first time for everything, she supposed.

The smell of burning wood intensified, catching Nicole the slightest bit off guard. She'd only lived here for a month, sure, but she couldn't remember any sort of restaurant being around here. At least, not so close by. Maybe she just had overlooked it?

…Oh, wait! Halloween! She couldn't believe that slipped her mind! Phineas and Ferb had recently put up a few flyers around school about a party they're throwing, and knowing them, it was going to be _far _from a small affair. She still needed a costume for that. But who to go as? Well, she could always do…

Ugh. That smoke smell was _still_ bothering her. Where was it coming from?! A restaurant? Campfire? A random alleyway?! _Where?! _Well, she could always figure it out when she got—.

Nicole stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her apartment building.

Well, at least she figured out where that burning smell was coming from.


	9. Waterworks

_**A/N: At long last, the penultimate chapter. (Sorry that it's tiny...)**_

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Waterworks**

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, _NO!"_

Nicole pushed apart the crowd that had gathered in front of the burning hotel. Just the upper levels themselves were gutted out with flames, the lower half pretty much unrecognizable. Many firetrucks, ambulances, and police cars surrounded the place, helping those escape from the flames or keep them out of it. She reached the front to discover a police barricade and an officer within earshot.

"Hey, officer!" Nicole shouted. The man turned as she continued, "Look, my name's Nicole Bonabel. I live here. Can I _please _check to see if any of my things survived?"

"Sorry, ma'am," the officer replied, "it's still too dangerous. Besides, everything that's in the building has burned to a crisp. The only things we've been getting out are people."

Nicole turned to look at the still raging fire. "Who _did_ this?"

"Some punk high schoolers," the officer shook his head in shame. "They were taken down to the station as soon as we got here. We think they got drunk and set the building ablaze, though we don't know why yet."

He turned to find Nicole a shade or two lighter. "Are you alright, ma'am?"

"I…" She paused for a moment. "Yes. I'm fine. No one… Nobody's _dead_, right?"

"Nope, thank God. The only thing destroyed here is the building itself." It took him a second before realizing Nicole's grip on the barricade was just a little too tight. "Look, I'm _real_ sorry for what happened here. Do you need help with anything, anything at all?"

She shook her head. "No. Thank you, officer."

Nicole stiffly walked away, practically shoving people to get out of the crowd.

* * *

_Two years, five months earlier…_

"Well, here we are!" Patrick announced, throwing his bag off to the side.

Nicole hesitantly walked inside their new apartment. "I feel like I'm about to start living in a dumpster."

"Oh, come on," Patrick's smile didn't deter, "we can clean it up! …As soon as we can afford it, I mean. It's got great potential!"

A pipe suddenly broke downstairs, its echo startling the brother and sister. There was an uneasy silence; Nicole could feel Patrick's look of worry, see his eyebrow furred and his smile fade.

Patrick sighed. "Okay, look, I know this isn't the best place, but it's all we can get. I'm _still _under eighteen, you need a place to sleep and go to school, and we _both_ know going back to a homeless shelter isn't an option. I promise, when we can, we're getting out of here. But for now, this can do."

There was an uneasy silence. Nicole looked around the place once more. It was certainly grimy and smelled disgusting, but that could be manageable, right? She sighed, taking the backpack off and setting it off to the side.

"Blankets didn't happen to come with the place, did they?"

* * *

_Present Day…_

Given her luck, Nicole wasn't shocked when it started raining.

She quickly readjusted her jacket and jogged to a nearby awning. It took her a moment before she surveyed what she had left. Her phone was still lodged in her pocket; her backpack, as well as everything in her locker, was still intact; she counted twenty of her thirty dollars still remaining.

_In other words,_ she bitterly thought,_ scraps._

It took Nicole everything not to go throw a fit there and then under the rain splattered awning. Of _course _things would get completely and terribly awful. They always did! Every time she finally got close to resembling happiness, show as much as a morsel of a smile, the Universe would screw her over again! Maybe if she confined herself to a small space, alone, without emotion, something could go _right _and stay _right _in her world. But, she couldn't, so she was stuck living in the _Hell_ known as her life. God, she could just—!

"Nicole?" A voice suddenly cut through her thoughts. "Are you okay?"

Nicole turned to see Ferb Fletcher, sitting in the silver car he and Phineas shared. She quickly wiped her cheeks with her hand – seeing him made her realize they weren't just covered in rainwater – as she answered, "Fine, fine. Just got caught in the rain. What are you doing here?"

"…You do realize they talk about hotel fires on the news, right?" Ferb said.

Nicole flinched a little. "Oh, uh, right, that. Eh-heh. I almost forgot it already! Well, aside from that, how's your night been going?"

"_Nicole."_

There was a silence; Nicole's eyes went downcast. "Well, how do you _expect _me to respond, Ferb? No one got killed. I just lost clothes, some cash, and maybe a photo or two."

The silence appeared once again. Suddenly, there was the sound of a car door opening. Nicole looked up to see Ferb under a black umbrella.

"Come on," he said. "I'm not leaving a friend out in the rain."


	10. Before

_**A/N: Small note: 'Everything Stays' belongs to Rebecca Sugar.**_

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Before**

The tension between Ferb and Nicole could be cut with a knife. Nicole had opted to look out the window to see raindrops racing down to larger water clumps. Her back was completely turned to Ferb, who was driving around empty dimly-lit streets. The grey leather of both of their seats squeaked at the slightest pressure. Neither teen seemed willing to start a conversation; they let the radio talk instead, letting it play songs neither of them knew, but the silence without it would've driven them insane.

As they went down Povenmire Avenue, Nicole noticed a fading red building, smaller than the rest. It had boarded up windows and seemed abandoned for a while. The sign – white, thick, and beginning to crumble – had the letters "**MA S 'S WA P**" still on it, though it was clear they weren't going to be there long.

"They closed Marsh's Swamp?" Nicole asked as they passed the brick building. She didn't turn to Ferb, but could hear the leather squeak when he slightly jumped at her voice.

"Oh, Marsh's. Yeah, they closed it down last June. You didn't notice?" Ferb, eager to grab that tension-cutting knife, answered.

"I haven't been down here in ages… I can't believe they closed it. It was so good!"

Ferb laughed. "You liked that place? You got sick every time we went there."

"Yeah, because I ate so much! I have yet to find a place that made better Breakfast Pizza."

"Ugh, the Breakfast Pizza? It was covered in eggs, two types of bacon, and tater tots. It was gross."

"It was _delicious. _Especially with pickles."

Ferb gagged.

"Oh yeah, pickles, and hash browns, and ketchup, and—."

"God, stop it, I'm gonna vomit."

Nicole laughed, turning to face the front windshield. "Why'd it close, anyway?"

The Brit shrugged. "Some say it was a staffing issue, others think it ran its course… Either way, Marsh got another job in California. Phineas helped organize a going away party before he moved. Half the town showed up to say goodbye, a ton of people volunteered to help cooking; Marsh gave a speech before a fireworks show. He said it was one of the best nights of his life. He was touched by everyone's efforts and he'd never forget his home in Danville. It was a really nice night."

"I bet it was." Nicole looked at the radio, reading the title of the song playing. "Wait, is this what I think it is?"

Nicole turned up the volume. The bass, serving as the song's primary instrument, was deep and pounding. The singer was the exact opposite, her voice being light and airy. She began singing through the slightly blown-out car speaker.

"_Let's go in the garden, _

_You'll find something waiting;_

_Right there where you left it,_

_Lying upside down._

_When you finally find it,_

_You'll see how it's faded –_

_The underside is lighter_

_When you turn it around._

_Everything stays_

_Right where you left it. _

_Everything stays,_

_But it still changes_

_Ever so slightly,_

_Daily and nightly,_

_In little ways,_

_When everything stays."_

"Man, I haven't heard this song in years!" Nicole smiled as the bridge began. "I used to sing along to it whenever it came on."

"Really? I never knew you sang." Ferb stopped at a red light, finally able to turn his head to her.

"If by 'singing' you mean 'imitation dying cat noises', than yes, I dabble in it."

Ferb slightly chuckled as the light turned green. The rain began easing up above them. Nicole noticed Ferb's hands slightly tense up around the wheel.

"Look, I'd understand if you didn't want to talk about it, but… What're you going to do now?"

Nicole's fingers curled around her seat belt. Still, she answered: "Well, I don't know. The closest family I have is fifty miles away and renting another place is too expensive." She paused before sighing. "Patrick's going to have a panic attack when he hears about this."

"He's your older brother, right?"

"Yep. Now a proud student at Tri-State."

"What's he studying?"

Nicole thought for a moment. Suddenly, she broke into a laugh. "Oh my God!"

"What's so funny?" Ferb looked at her at the corner of his eye. She looked like she was having trouble breathing.

"He's majoring in Architecture," Nicole giggled, "though he's considering changing to Mechanical Engineering."

She continued laughing as Ferb looked dumbfounded. "You're joking."

"I'm dead serious."

"…Wow."

"I know! I didn't even realize it until now!"

"_Wow."_

"And he just went with it because it pays a lot!"

"I'm calling it now – his first project will be to design a roller coaster."

"Then he'll create a beach!"

"Become a one-hit wonder!"

"Win the Swamp Oil 500!"

"Direct, write, and star in a monster movie!"

"Beat up the town bully!"

"Surf a tidal wave!"

"Create nanobots!"

"Locate Frankenstein's brain!"

"Find a Dodo Bird!"

"Paint a continent!"

"All while driving me insane!"

"'PATRICK!'"

The two nearly entered into hysterics. Nicole didn't notice when Ferb's laughter grew softer while he turned, nor did she pay attention to the directions they were going. It was only when her own laughter died down that she thought to open her eyes. When she did, however, the giggles cut off completely.

The house they were in front of was primarily yellow with a brown roof. The lawn was slightly unkempt and shone from the recent downpour. The red door had slightly faded since she last saw it and the steps leading up to it were vaguely eroded. Despite the obvious aging after four years, there was no mistaking the house. Nicole probably had 2308 Maple Drive permanently ingrained in her head.

Nicole didn't hear Ferb unclick his seat belt and open his door. She did, however, hear him say, "Huh, we caught a break in the rain." It was enough to get her out of her apparent trance as she saw Ferb walk over to the sidewalk. Nicole unlocked her seat belt and opened her door just as Ferb was saying, "…it'll last long, though. C'mon."

It took another moment before Nicole could collect her thoughts. She forced herself out the car, shutting the door behind her. Then – though a little hesitant – she walked towards the house.

* * *

_Four years, three months earlier…_

"You can put down your bag if you want."

Nicole gave Phineas a weird look. Still, she put down the duffle bag she'd been living out of for two weeks, slightly in awe of the place.

It was definitely an improvement from the woods; she'd give him that. It was also a lot better than that drunken pigsty "home" she ran away from, and it smelled better, too. Ferb – the only other person to accompany them, as everyone else had separated – closed the sliding glass door behind them. Just in front of her was a couch, with a weird duck-billed creature (who Phineas referred to as "Perry") lounging on one of the pillows. There was a T.V. just in front of that, with a game console plugged in on the floor. Another entrance to the room on her right showed a green chair next to a brown lamp and table. A little plant in the corner helped tie the place together.

Phineas turned to his guest, still looking around the room. "I think Mom's in the kitchen. Make yourself comfortable; we'll be right back. C'mon, Ferb."

The Brit nodded, joining his brother as he walked to the nearby kitchen. It smelled like they were having fajitas that night. Hopefully Nicole's brief popping in wouldn't disrupt things too much…

Seeing nothing else she could do, she sat on the other couch end from Perry. He opened one eye to see who it was, shuffling slightly before closing it again. Nicole sighed, putting her head another pillow, waiting.

* * *

_Present Day…_

"You can put your bag down if you want."

Nicole blinked, turning to Ferb putting down his car keys. "What?"

"Your bag; you don't have to hold it." Ferb took off his jacket and placed it on a chair. "You still like tea?"

"Uh… Yeah. Chamomile, if you have it." Nicole hadn't noticed she still had her backpack in one of her hands. She placed it next to the door before walking towards the living room. The backyard – still having a lone tree near the back fence – looked washed out in the once again raining outdoors. Perry was sleeping on the couch. A few wrinkles appeared around his eyes and bill, but he mostly hadn't changed. Nicole gave his head a little pet as she passed, waking the platypus up. He looked at her a moment before sniffing the air. When she sat down, he got up, walking over to a spot right beside her. He settled back down again in a ball, his head slightly leaning against her thigh. She scratched a part of his neck as Ferb walked back in.

"Tea's gonna need a few minutes," Ferb said.

"Yeah, I remember." Nicole replied. "It was, like, the only thing I drank in this house during winter."

The Brit answered with an "Hm" and plopped down in a nearby chair. Nicole noticed they hadn't chucked their old coo-coo clock when a bird announced the arrival of seven.

Just as the final chime had stopped, there was a creak from upstairs. Nicole slightly stiffened, with Perry waking up from having his "pillow" move. He stretched a little as somebody began walking down the stairs. When Perry hopped off the fading green couch, the person had walked down enough to reveal dark blue sneakers. Nicole let out a small sigh of relief as Phineas finally reached the bottom half of the staircase. He looked a little surprised when he finally noticed her.

"Oh, hey, Nic," Phineas greeted. The tea kettle began screaming. "I thought I heard another voice down here."

"Hey," she replied. The tea kettle's scream grew louder before Ferb bothered getting up. "Sorry for sorta dropping in unannounced."

"Nah, you're fine." As soon as Ferb began walking to the kitchen, Phineas took his seat. "I mean, you lived here for a year. It's not like this is the first time you've come over."

"Heh. Yeah, I guess you're right."

The stove turned off. Nicole could still hear the kettle sputter for air as it moved, pouring hot water into either an off-white or black coffee mug.

"…So." Phineas said. His legs, thrown over the left armrest, began swinging up and down.

"So." Nicole repeated. She mentally slapped herself. _Wow, riveting response there, Bonabel._

Ferb went back into the living room, carrying one black and one white mug. He placed the white one on the coffee table in front of her.

"Did you put anything—?"

"I drowned it in creamer." Ferb interrupted.

"Oh. Thanks." Nicole picked up the cup. She was surprised he remembered how she fixed her tea, but decided not to bring it up.

Ferb simply nodded, sitting in nearby recliner. Phineas tapped his fingers nervously on his thigh. After a moment, Nicole sighed.

"My house burned down." She said. "There, it's out in the open. Now, could we please stop treating it like it's the end of the world?"

She took a sip of her drink. Both of the brothers were taken aback by her near nonchalant tone. Though, admittedly, they were also pretty relieved – the underlining tension was finally split by the knife.

"Well, if we're being casual about it," Phineas began, sitting up, "what'll happen to you now?"

"No clue." Nicole watched the tea water ripple in sync with her almost trembling fingers. "It just depends on my brother."

She looked another long sip, barely noticing the brothers sharing a look.

"Excuse us for a moment." Phineas said. He quickly went into another room, Ferb following close behind.

The warmth of the coffee mug felt alien in Nicole's cold hands. The clock continued to tick in the other room. After yet another sigh, she put down the mug. Readjusting her position, she put her head on a pillow.

* * *

_Four years, three months earlier…_

"Did Child Protection Services call you back?"

The question made Nicole wince. Mr. and Mrs. Flynn were nice enough to let her stay overnight in the guest room. However, the walls were about as thick as paper, and she couldn't sleep. So, she was stuck listening to them talk about her in the dark.

"Yes, a little while ago," Mrs. Flynn replied. "They'll look into her father's case as soon as possible, but for the time being, she's under our care."

"Wow." Mr. Flynn sounded like he'd just sat on a chair, as it groaned a little under his weight. "Well, that's it, then? We're her guardians?"

"Sort of. Until they can set up a proper home situation for her, for her own safety, she stays with us."

"Ah." There was a pause. "Didn't she mention having family somewhere else?"

"Yes, they're looking into that, too. Since they seem to live out of the country, the situation gets a little trickier, but I'm sure they'll figure out something."

Another silence.

"How are we going to break the news?"

Yet another silence – Nicole's stomach started forming into a tight knot. "We'll tell Nicole separately – when she wakes up, of course. She seems like she hasn't slept in days. We'll tell our kids over breakfast."

"Do you think they'll get along?"

Mrs. Flynn slightly laughed. "Candace might be a little shaky at first, but after hearing what's going on, they'll get along okay. As for the boys… Well, it's Phineas and Ferb we're talking about here. Of course they'll warm up to her."

Their voices lowered after that and Nicole couldn't figure out what they were saying. The knot that had been forming became a cement block of anxiety. Even to this day, she couldn't figure out how she was able to fall asleep, no matter how shallow it was.

* * *

_Present day…_

"…Nic? You up?"

Nicole was startled awake by Phineas' voice. Perry, who had decided to lie down on her stomach, got another unpleasant wake-up call from a nap. He crawled off her and headed to an opening that appeared when she sat up.

"Oh! Yeah, yeah, I'm up. S-sorry." Nicole used her hand to cover her quickly reddening checks. "I didn't realize I was that tired. I didn't make you guys wait long, did I?"

"No, you're fine. We just got back." Phineas answered, clearly trying not to laugh.

"Actually, that reminds me… What were you doing up at four this morning?" Ferb asked.

Nicole groaned. "A friend woke me up with a crazy conspiracy theory of his. You've met – he was the guy we met during that trip to Oregon a few years back."

"Oregon…? Wait, _Pines_?" Nicole nodded. "You still talk to him?!"

"Yep."

"Why?"

She shrugged. "We've went through a lot of crap together. You can't just abandon that, y'know? So, yeah. We talk."

"…Okay…" Ferb slouched back in his seat, baffled.

"Anyway," Phineas interrupted Ferb before he could say anything else. "We know how much you've been going through a lot during this past month. Moving, getting used to a new school, and now your house burned down. But, you still want to stay in Danville, right?"

"…Yeah?" Nicole answered.

"Well… We still have our guest room open." Phineas answered. "If you want, you can crash here."

Nicole's eyes widened. "Are you serious?!"

"Totally!" Phineas smiled. "C'mon, Nic, we're friends. It's the least we can do."

"'Least'…? Phineas, this is _huge!_ I-I mean, what about your parents? What do they think?"

"They're in Europe for the next year." Ferb explained. "We'll tell them over the phone, but they shouldn't have a problem with it."

"Oh my God… I-I can't thank you enough, but—."

"Yeah, Patrick, we know." Phineas said. "As long as it's cool with him, you're more than welcome to stay."

Nicole's phone rang. She took it out her pocket and glanced at the Caller ID.

"Speak of the Devil," she said. "I'll be right back."

Both of the boys nodded once. Nicole stepped into another room before hitting 'Accept'. "Hello?"

"_Oh, thank God!" _Patrick sounded like he was going to cry in relief. _"I can't believe the apartment burned down! Are you hurt? Am I talking to a nurse right now? ARE YOU DEAD?!"_

"How could I be talking to you if I was dead?" She asked. When he didn't answer, she continued: "Don't worry, I'm fine. Just a little shaken up, that's all."

"_Where are you?"_

"The Flynn-Fletcher house; Phineas and Ferb, remember?"

"_Oh, that's their names?" _He let out a short laugh._ "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Of course I remember them."_

"I figured." She paused. Nicole curled the end of her hair braid nervously. "Hey, um… They actually said it was alright if I crashed here, y'know, for a little. I-I mean, if it was okay with you."

"_You still want to stay in Danville?"_

"Yes." Nicole mentally slapped herself for answering so quickly. "But I'd understand if you thought otherwise! I just… I mean, it's been ages since I was last here, so it took a while to readjust, but—."

"_Alright."_

There was a silence.

"What?"

"_Alright, you can live with the Flynn-Fletchers for a bit."_

"Really? You're letting me stay?"

"_I was hoping you wanted to stay! Just remember to call me at least once a week, keep your grades up, don't talk to strangers, stay away from drugs, maybe get—."_

"Okay, I get it! I'll do my best, I promise."

"_That works for me. Talk you later."_

"Bye."

Nicole clicked her phone off. It took her a moment before remembering the boys were still waiting in the other room. She entered back in, causing them to look up.

"Alright, so... Do I have to pay rent?"

* * *

Darkness was everywhere in the Flynn-Fletcher house at one in the morning. Still, Nicole couldn't sleep, still trying to process everything that had happened. The bed she laid in – rather stiff, but something you get used to – smelt like bleach, though there wasn't anything white on it. The light beige walls both complimented yet stood starkly apart from the dark. Boxes piled up randomly all over, mostly decorations for Phineas and Ferb's Halloween bash. Raindrops came down softly on the window above her head. It reminded her of one of her final nights the first time she came to Danville. She could feel a ghost of the dread that formed in her stomach thinking about leaving. The excitement over seeing Patrick once again. One hundred and one things always kept rolling in her head, making it impossible to sleep at night.

A part of her wanted to laugh. _Oh, God, she'd kill me if she heard what happened four years later._

She remembered gripping the bed sheets nervously before finally falling asleep. It's how she fell asleep most nights, now that she thought of it; dreading the morning, questioning her worth, and wondering how the heck she'd turn out by the end of it all.

Nicole turned to her side. She rubbed one of the top bed sheets with her thumb, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"You'll be fine," she whispered. "But French will destroy your life. Seriously. Screw that language."

Nicole laughed at her own dumb joke. Finally, after ages of nights spent tossing and turning, panicking about the world, and silently praying for mercy, she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

_**-Fin-**_

* * *

_**A/N: FINALLY! Ugh, this took forever and I'm sorry about that. I didn't expect this to last as long as it did – but, hey, this was an experiment of mine and I'm glad I got to finish it. A big thank you to those who waited patiently for the story to finish, as well as those who reviewed and favorited the story!**_

_**Now, if you'd excuse me, I believe I have some unfinished business to attend to.**_


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